Batman Snow Review

Batman Snow Review By Deffinition

Mr. Freeze Gets A Cold Reception

Batman Snow is a story I know very little about. This makes me more excited to read it!

Set in the early years of the Gotham Vigilante’s life we see the rise of the super villain: Mr. Freeze.

I’ve always been fascinated with the Cold Hearted criminal due to his origin story and animated series debut: Heart Of Ice and also fascinated with just how bad the character is in the movie Batman And Robin.

I’m really excited to see him make his first appearance in the comics to see if it measures up to this Emmy Award Winning episode and have heard great things about this book.

So with that out the way, let’s dive right in to Batman: Snow.

Ice To See You

Snow opens on Alfred waking up in the middle of the night. During his journey to the cave we hear his inner, most deepest thoughts. It’s clear he worries about Bruce whenever he goes out and that deep down he wants him to give up his life as Batman. Upon finding Bruce half dead in the cave he really tries to will him into submission against his vigilantism but it falls on deaf ears, as always.

I love the human aspect of this book that is shown from the outset and throughout. This majorly picks up when we are introduced to Victor Fries, pre Mr. Freeze. He has a life at home that is surrounded in the mundane until his wife develops a degenerative disease and is hospitalised due to it. We really get the feeling that, like Batman, Fries will do anything to take control of the situation and he works tirelessly to find a cure

Clear similarities are not lost on me and in the same way Fries tries to fight an unstoppable disease, so does Bruce.

I love the way the book opens and from the off it had me gripped. I was instantly struck by it’s art and it feels comic booky and pulpy whilst also grounded and realistic. The colour palette he really helps to make the work jump off the page and it was a device that really helped to engross you in the story.

Ice Age

Victor takes his wife to his place of work, a science lab that specialises in cryogenics. Desperately wanting to save her he uses his newly developed machine to try and stabilise the disease. However, as the project was militarily funded it has been twisted into a weapon and freezes the woman completely, exploding when it’s overloaded. This completely destroys Victor and Mr. Freeze is all that is left in the wake.

The fact that Fries wanted to be a hero is something that I always loved about the character’s origin. Since it’s original inception by Paul Dini it has always made him one of the standout Batman Villains. We really relate with him because who wouldn’t do whatever it takes to save the one that they love. It really is a shining aspect in the book that makes you want to see Freeze succeed even though you know it could have serious consequences.

Cold as Ice

Throughout the book Batman assembles a team. They are regular members of the public and due to this can go about crime scenes in disguises unnoticed.

Much to Alfred’s delight, Bruce begins to use these over putting himself in the firing line. However after a botched operation, problems are caused and when Gordon finds out he is furious.

I loved the idea of the team, it seems liked something innovative that I hadn’t really seen thus far in the canon read through. It created a Mission Impossible vibe with everyone having their own role and the team were a charismatic and intelligent bunch. You should definitely check out Batman Snow for this reason alone as it’s a really original take that felt more akin to the Shadow than the Dark Knight.

Tension causes them to splinter off and when they try and deal with Freeze on their own they are no match. This section cemented Batman as being above the rest and perhaps it was wrong for him to put others in danger to carry out his quest.

The Storm

The book climaxes with Freeze covering Gotham in a vast blanket of snow. Batman and the team attack, cornering Freeze who in his insanity dives into the river. It’s a rather cliched ending that disbands the team but leaves Batman feeling that he needs someone to watch his back.

I wonder who that could be as he reads a newspaper headlined by The Flying Graysons….hmmm

The Verdict

Batman Snow is a really enjoyable, short but sweet, graphic novel on the origin’s of Mr. Freeze. Whilst it doesn’t dive to deeply into the dark psychopathy of the character’s it is still a fun, pulp read. It’s a great origin story for the villain that adds little nuances that real enrichen the character’s back story.

I had a blast with Batman Snow and really recommend that you check this one out if you get the chance.

8/10

As I read through the Batman Graphic Novels in Chronological Order each week, I will be ranking them from Best to Worst. Click the link below to be taken to the full list. Updated every new review.